Baby's heart condition was 'incredibly rare'

Archie Squire suffered heart failure following repeated visits to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate

A medical expert has told an inquest that a baby who died at a Kent hospital had a heart condition so rare that doctors "might see one in their working lives".

Archie Squire died from heart failure in the early hours of 23 November 2023 after repeated visits to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate.

According to paediatric cardiac surgeon Prof David Anderson, Archie had an "exceedingly rare" condition known as "congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries".

Most GPs "would never see a case" while hospital doctors "might see one in their working lives", he told the inquest.

'One in 35,000'

Prof Anderson said the "great majority of children with the condition would have additional defects of the heart", but that Archie did not.

The likelihood of a child having this type of congenital heart condition was "one in 35,000", he added.

Archie was reviewed in the A&E and Urgent Care Centre at QEQM Hospital more than 10 times over the year of his life with symptoms including constipation, breathlessness and failure to thrive.

Dr Emma Price, a consultant paediatrician with the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT), previously told the inquest that Archie did not have "any signs of heart disease" when she saw him in October 2023.

A serious incident investigations report conducted by EKHUFT found there were "missed opportunities to diagnose him appropriately".

Prof Anderson shared his view that Archie would have been referred to the Evelina London Children's Hospital had he received an echocardiogram - a scan used to look at the heart and nearby blood vessels - upon admission to hospital on 21 November.

The inquest, which started at North East Kent Coroner's Court in Maidstone on 19 May, is ongoing.